Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly pitched for setting up a rule-based regional security architecture in the Indo-Pacific region, in a clear display of convergence of strategic interests among major powers and India and thus sending a subtle message to China against its military assertiveness in the area. The move is gaining momentum and we hope that co-operation among the countries on identified terrorism and extremism, including cross border terrorism, as the major challenge facing the region and the time has come for all the countries to put an end and join hands to collectively deal with it. The success of the fruitful talks and implementation with intense canvassing can be gauged from the fact that the East Asia Summit has adopted separate declaration on countering terror financing and effectively dealing with the terrorist narratives in the region. It is indeed a new rule in the regional security and came at an appropriate juncture as China is showing signs of military assertiveness in the border area. India and other like-minded countries are trying to foil China’s dominance in the sub-continent.
S. Abhishek Ramaswamy
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
